1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic circuits, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for reducing burn in.
2. Background Information
Infant mortality is a term used to describe device failures that occur within the first year of usage. Infant mortality is most often caused by latent manufacturing defects (hereinafter referred to as “hard defects”) that escape detection during factory tests and become permanently active during use of the device typically rendering the device as non-functional.
Currently, infant mortality in devices is controlled through a pre-shipment process of burn in. During the burn-in process, devices are operated at artificially elevated voltages and temperatures for a period of time so as to activate hard defects prior to device shipment that would otherwise affect customers early in the life of the device.
As transistor dimensions and threshold voltages are scaled down for performance, burn in power and consequently burn in hardware costs increase. This remains an issue as manufacturers struggle to meet market expectations of infant mortality rates while maintaining reasonable manufacturing costs.